New D1 coaches needed?

[osualum86]

Re: New D1 coaches needed?

I thought what really made her complement Frost and Johnson well on the UM staff was that they are both low key and Nadine brings both passion and a bit of fire. Ask her to tell you the story of the traveling "M" and her first weekend in Bemidji as a coach some time for an example.

Anyway, I think the Gopher players really liked her as an assistant and saw her as a big sister and the person they could go to with anything. I realize that those relationships are likely different for a head coach. I wouldn't expect that people would view her as psycho. She may not be a good fit for some people. I'd say that as a head coach, she reminds me a little of someone like Maria Lewis. She has a magnetism, and it is obvious to anyone that she cares a lot. The staff will likely miss Peter for what he brought in terms of Xs and Os and international contacts, at least in the short term.

Thanks for your input. I can always count on you to fill me in on all things Gopher Women's Hockey, whether it is the current team, or a former player/coach. I have said this before and I will say it again ... I am thrilled that Coach Nadine is here and hope she stays for a long time! Getting to the Frozen Four in just her second season here was so beyond my wildest expectations. I think everyone remembers my sub-title from last season's thread ... "Home Playoffs This Season?" Needless to say, coming from Minnesota, Coach Nadine knows what it takes to become a Championship Program. I think you are spot on about her caring. In one of her interviews here, someone asked her a question regarding what advice did she get from Coach Frost. The answer was something along the lines of "Just show them you care. Look what they have been through!" We are definitely going to miss Coach Peter, but we will survive.

 

[osualum86]

Re: New D1 coaches needed?

I think the international contacts thing is way overrated whether it's Peter or anyone else from Europe. Did that really have any kind of positive effect?!

With two national team players from Finland and an Olympic goaltender from Switzerland coming in, I would say it definitely had a positive effect for us.

 

[Timothy A]

Re: New D1 coaches needed?

As for seeing each other, I am not 100% sure I am making the trip up to Madison this season since it is that late in the season. I really want to because you and the fans up there are great, and we always have a nice time in Madison, but honestly, I am hoping we will need to save our $$$ for the NCAA Tournament about that time. Maybe the WCHA can get back to the top of the mountain this season. Gonna be fun.

Yes, I still work in that toxic environment, but I get paid enough to where I really don't care. I get it on both accounts. I really envy you that you travel all over the place and watch the games. Every year I have goals of getting to some away games, but things always seem to get in the way (maybe I'm just not a committed enough fan, LOL). It's going to be a fun season of hockey like it always is, even when it ends not the way you want it to. Enjoy the games and make the memories of fun times with those you watch the games with.

 

[shelfit]

With two national team players from Finland and an Olympic goaltender from Switzerland coming in, I would say it definitely had a positive effect for us.

I just believe there are equally as talented players right here in the US. Have any programs won the National Championship because of the European influx on their team besides Shannon Miller at Duluth?! I'm just giving my opinion as always and I don't believe the European players are stronger overall than players right here in our own backyard. It sounds fancy to hear someone say that they have a European player or players on their team or that a certain coach has European contacts but unless all that suddenly makes a team a contender for the national title then they're just the same as every other team out there that's not competing for the championship every year.

 

[Lindsay]

I just believe there are equally as talented players right here in the US. Have any programs won the National Championship because of the European influx on their team besides Shannon Miller at Duluth?! I'm just giving my opinion as always and I don't believe the European players are stronger overall than players right here in our own backyard. It sounds fancy to hear someone say that they have a European player or players on their team or that a certain coach has European contacts but unless all that suddenly makes a team a contender for the national title then they're just the same as every other team out there that's not competing for the championship every year.

Michaela Pejzlova of Clarkson and Noora Raty of Minnesota.

There is no doubt that there is a range of talent in the European players that come over. I agree that just because it’s a European player doesn’t mean she’s automatically better than the North American players. For some schools though, recruiting a European who is as good as the 2nd best tier of American players might be easier than getting that 2nd level tier American player.

 

[shelfit]

Michaela Pejzlova of Clarkson and Noora Raty of Minnesota.

There is no doubt that there is a range of talent in the European players that come over. I agree that just because it’s a European player doesn’t mean she’s automatically better than the North American players. For some schools though, recruiting a European who is as good as the 2nd best tier of American players might be easier than getting that 2nd level tier American player.

Both individuals are examples of very good players, no doubt about that. Both were surrounded by very deeply talented and primarily non-european rosters on their respective college teams without whom they would not have won national championships. Both were recruited by non-european college coaches/assistant coaches if I'm not mistaken, so you've proven there's not an absolute need for a European coach to attract good players from across the water. Your examples also prove those two teams didn't win those titles because of those two individuals or because they had several good Europeans on their rosters. Yes, I believe the Gophers were so deep they could have won it all without Noora Raty.

 

[Still Eeyore]

Re: New D1 coaches needed?

Given that a grand total of four teams have won a national championship in the last nineteen years, that's probably the wrong standard to hold out as determining whether European recruiting is a success for some schools. North Dakota went from doormats to being a consistent contender not just with the Lams, but with a big presence of European players. Those players were largely recruited by Peter Elander.

Yes, I believe the Gophers were so deep they could have won it all without Noora Raty.

I wouldn't be too confident about that. The 2012 champions had a lot going for them, but Räty was in a zone for the whole post-season, in which, if she saw the puck, she was going to stop it. The rest of the team fed off that. It's an open question whether they would have played as well without her.

The 2013 was good enough that they ought to have been able to win without Räty, but they played four overtime periods during the first two games of the NCAA tournament, so one extra slip up by that hypothetical goalie could have doomed them.